To Télos Archízei
by iSpeakSarcasms
Summary: Puzzles, hikaris, yamis, old pharaohs, reincarnations saving the world, monsters coming to life...it's all nonsense, right? Blood, gore, and mature themes in future chapters. Rating will change accordingly
1. 1

_**A/N: First and foremost, Happy New Year. I really hyped myself up for this fic and I'm really excited to be uploading this, even if it is just the first chapter. It is a magic A/U that is loosely based on one of my favorite video game franchises, the God of War franchise. I'm not gonna sit here and babble, I'm just gonna get right into it. Enjoy.**_

 _ **Side Note: I use dub and sub names in my fics. Some fics I'll write "Joey, Téa, Tristan, etc." some fics I'll write "Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, etc." and some fics I'll mix them; however, I am consistent in whichever names I use. If you don't like what I call someone, oh well. Get over it.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! Or the God of War franchise. This much should be very obvious.**_

 _To Télos Archízei*_

They were beaten up, bruised, and bloodied, but they were _almost_ there. They _had_ to be almost there; why else would an upwards of more than ten duel monsters at a time ambush them in hopes of preventing them from ascending up the stairs of the castle's North Tower. And they knew even though they were this close, it was far from being over. They knew that once they'd managed to get up the stairs and into wherever he was hiding their abducted loved ones, something much, much bigger and much, much more deadly was awaiting them. There was no way that he would just let them win simply because they'd made it there; if the yamis and the hikaris truly wanted to be the heroes they were trying to be, then they would have to defeat the man himself. Not just some monsters he pulled out of the shadow realm. The problem was that in order to at least stand somewhat of a chance they all would need to be healthy, and none of them were close. Injury had plagued them before they'd even gotten to the island, and now each of the three lights were handicapped in some way and their yamis not at a hundred percent with injuries of their own.

Ryou's concussion had the room spinning every five minutes and his only aid in relief was a pair of sunglasses to prevent the light from making his head hurt worse than it already did. Bakura was certain that a couple of his fingers were broken, and all he had was a glove to put on and a piece of string to splint them with – on top of his head throbbing and the faint dizziness from his lighter half. Malik had no idea what the hell was wrong with his right leg other than it felt like someone was taking a hammer and nails to his shin, and when he wasn't leaning against something or someone for support he was sitting on the ground because he couldn't put any weight on it. Mariku was gimpy from his other half's leg injury, barely able to stand and very slow when it came to walking, and he had no use of his left forearm – possibly due to a break or a hairline fracture. Joey and Seto were not yami and hikari; however, the two of them did possess some type of bond and Seto did possess the ability to manipulate shadows. Needless to say, Seto could feel some pain in his left ankle and Joey could feel some pain in his right side around his ribcage. Yuugi, like Mariku, had completely lost the use of one of his arms, but unlike the insane yami, Yuugi's was due to a dislocation; and though his shoulder had been popped back into place, he had his jacked tied around him as a makeshift sling to prevent any excess movement. Yami's arm was sore – and if he moved it too fast, the pain would shoot through his body and temporarily immobilize him – and he was spitting out blood every few minutes. All of those injuries on top of the cuts, welts, gashes, and burns that each of them bore…

Giving up was sounding better and better. There was no way that in their current condition they would be able to fight for their loved ones (and actually win); but submitting was not an option that they could take.

 _Two Months Earlier, in Domino City, California…_

Puzzles were his calling; it didn't matter what type. Jigsaw puzzles, word puzzles, numerical puzzles – hell even Rubik's cubes were no match for him, he could solve them in under a minute – seemed to bring out a more daring and determined side of him. So, it was no surprise that when his grandfather brought _the_ puzzle back from one of his digs in Egypt, Yuugi immediately began working on it. For the first few weeks that he had it, he would allot himself a specific amount of time to go over the pieces – which were well over a few hundred – and kind of test things out; fitting perhaps a couple of pieces together in a sitting and then set those pieces aside from the rest of the puzzle. It was extremely difficult at first, seeing that he didn't even have a clue as to what the finished product was supposed to look like, but as the weeks went by and he began to pair pieces, things got easier.

Currently, he was over at his friend Ryou's apartment, where himself, his white haired friend, Malik, and Joey were supposed to be studying for an upcoming test. Keywords, _supposed to be_. Of course, none of them were doing what they were supposed to be doing; Yuugi was on the couch with his puzzle fragments spread out over the coffee table, Malik and Joey were on the other side of the couch causing mischief, and Ryou was next to Yuugi with his attention split between the novel in his hands and his two blonde friends.

Prank calling was by far the most childish activity that two nearly eighteen-year-old boys could do, but Malik and Joey were well known for their pettiness and antics. It was like their role in the foursome: the two blondes were the goofy, fun friends that didn't mind looking ridiculous or getting in trouble so long as they got their friends to laugh, Ryou was the quiet, intelligent friend who was far too polite for his own good, and Yuugi was a mix between the three; he could be just as foolish as Malik and Joey but also just as quiet as Ryou, and he had the type of innocent appearance – and _only_ his appearance – that could make people fold to his will. At one point – a few seconds after he had opened his math textbook and mentally said "fuck that" – Malik got one of Ryou's phone books and brought it back into the living room before flipping it to a random page and pulling out his cell phone. Joey had quickly caught on, read off a number, and now they were listening to the sound of dialing on speaker.

"I think they're too busy to come to the phone," Joey said after they'd spent a good minute or two listening to the phone ring.

"Good. Then this will be even funnier when they get pissed and hang up on us," Malik responded as he set the phone down on his lap.

Rolling his eyes and flipping the page in his book, Ryou asked, "You two dialed star sixty-seven before calling right?" Though he usually didn't act like it, he loved when Malik and Joey did something completely senseless to cause himself and Yuugi to laugh, but he didn't like them getting in trouble for it. Prank calling was a federal offense and while they were his two best friends, he was _not_ bailing them out of jail. Damn that.

"Of course we did Ryou. How dumb to ya think we are?"

Choosing not to answer that question – mostly because Joey would break his neck if he heard what his friend had to say – the white-haired boy looked back down at the pages before him.

Eventually, after roughly five minutes of ringing, the call was answered and an annoyed woman seemingly snapped, "Thank you for calling Papa John's in Domino City. This delivery our carry-out?"

"Delivery," The tanned boy said with a grin plastered over his face. "But I have a question."

The woman on the other end sighed, and made absolutely no effort to hide it. It was almost like she wanted the two to know they were busy and she had no time for nonsense.

But nonsense was their specialty. "Do you deliver in bulk?" After Malik said this, his grin turned into a full blown smile and his muscles tensed as he tried to keep from laughing. He looked over at Joey, who had a hand clamped over his mouth and had turned a bright shade of pink from the same effort.

"Pardon?" The woman asked.

The two nearly cracked up and Malik was surprised that his voice didn't crack when he responded, "Bulk. Like large quantities of a specific item. Do you guys deliver in bulk?"

There was a moment of silence on the woman's end and briefly the two though that she had figured out what they were doing and hung up, but then she responded with, "It honestly depends. Where are you located?"

"Hawaii," He stated.

The sound of a click sent the two boys into a short fit of laughter before they switched items with Joey holding the phone and Malik reading off another number. This time, the phone only rang for a few seconds before a male answered, "Thank you for calling Domino's, will this be dine-in, delivery, or carry out?"

"Delivery," Joey said.

"Alrighty." A brief pause, and then, "What would you like to order?"

"Could I get a large pepperoni pizza?"

"Is that all?"

The blonde smirked and bit his lip to stifle a giggle before answering, "Actually, no. For that pizza, could I have it with no sauce and no bread?"

A squeak escaped Malik before he held both hands over his mouth and looked at Joey, who gave him a glare and mouthed, 'Shut the fuck up.'

"Sir, are you saying 'no bread' as in no garlic sticks with your order –?"

"No, I mean no bread as in no crust on the pizza. I just want a box with the toppings in it. Ya know, while we're on the subject of bread, could I actually get some garlic sticks with my pizza, but no garlic on them?"

Immediately after Joey's ludicrous interruption, the man hung up and the two friends began hooting once more, significantly harder than the previous time. Ryou watched the two from over his novel and shook his head, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. His friends were nuts. Unfortunately for the boy, he made eye contact with Malik and the tall blonde shoved his phone into his friend's face before saying, "Your turn."

Ryou shook his head. "No thank you. Prank calls aren't my idea of a fun activity, and I'm not funny. Why not ask him?" He jerked a finger at Yuugi, who was busily working away at the mess of pieces on the table. While Yuugi didn't really do anything to get himself in trouble or wreak humorous havoc like his two blonde friends, Ryou knew that his smaller friend had a silly side that could be much better than his own in this situation.

Malik shook his head, still trying to give his phone to his thin friend. "No way. He gets pissed when people mess with him while he's putting that thing together." Now, Yuugi being upset was about as intimidating as an angry puppy, and if anything it was funny, but his friends didn't enjoy angering him. No matter how amusing it was. And he always got them back in the future. "Just do one call. It's not all that hard; dial the number, say something dumb, and don't laugh until they hang up. Come on Ryou, don't be an old sponge with hair hanging off of it."

To which Ryou rolled his eyes. His tan friend had an array of "don't be's" and they were all completely ridiculous and irrelevant in the context that he used them in. "Fine." And he took the phone, dialing the number that his friend read off to him. When a woman picked up, he could feel his heart pounding, as though it would beat right out of his chest. He wasn't good at these kinds of things.

"Thank you for calling Pizza Hut. Is this a delivery or a carry-out?"

"Um," Ryou began, his face turning a shade of red that would've put Crayola out of business. He _really_ wasn't good at these things. "Actually, I just had a question."

"How can I help you?"

He racked his brain. Under this kind of pressure, even coming up with a stupid question was a difficult task. Eventually he settled on, "Could you give me the number to Domino's?"

There was a long period of silence and for a moment Ryou thought that he'd screwed up the prank call. But then the woman responded, "Yeah, just let me get it from your mom first." And then she hung up.

Ryou stared at the phone in disbelief while his two friends hollered with laughter. Of course _his_ prank call would result in an insult.

"Yug', ya can't tell me that wasn't funny," Joey said as he got off of the floor and turned to his petite friend. During his fit of laughter, he'd fallen off of the couch, along with Malik who was still on the ground and clutching his sides.

But Yuugi didn't respond. In fact, he was so engrossed on the conundrum in before him that he hadn't even heard what was going on between his friends since they'd sat down. There was something about this puzzle; every time he touched it, he felt heat – which was very strange considering that each piece was made out of pure gold and should have been cool to the touch – though each sensation was brief. And then there was this feeling in his subconscious – he couldn't exactly put a name to it yet, but it was bizarre. Like there was some type of presence there, but what or who he couldn't exactly pinpoint. At this point, he'd paired all of the puzzle's pieces and had managed to get a good group of the pairs to fit with the other sets, forming a three-dimensional corner. Judging by this, he thought the final product to be a cube or some other type of tetrahedron; and based on the piece with a loop on it, this puzzle had the ability to hang on something.

Seeing that their friend had made some type of progress with what he was working on, the three opted to leave him be. While it was a little irritating that Yuugi was spending every second of his free time tinkering away with those minute golden fragments, they'd wanted to see the finished product about as badly as he did.

 _XxXx_

This was the third time this week that Yami was late for work. Thankfully for him, he remembered to call in and tell his boss, or else he would probably be without a job. It all started a little less than a month ago, when he'd received the most arbitrary and severe cold flashes he'd ever felt in his life. They were so bad that he'd thought he'd come down with some type of illness; and for a few days, he stayed home from work and school just to avoid having a jarring shiver strike him in public. After those initial few days, however, the cold grew less intense. It was still there, as the goosebumps on his skin surely attested, but it didn't bother him to the extent that it had before. But today, just as he was getting dressed for work, one hit and it hit him hard.

It was like no matter what he did to warm his body, it wouldn't die down or go away. For about an hour, he lay on his bed wrapped in a blanket, shaking like a leaf in the wind; he felt like this irrational chill went far beyond the surface of his skin to where his bones were cold. He could even feel the cold in his head, where a headache was born; and while the chill went away after roughly an hour, the headache went absolutely nowhere. The strange thing about this was, while the sudden chills did alarm him, he recognized them. Back when he was a little boy, he'd had the ability to manipulate shadows, and whenever he played with the darkness the numbing cold would take him. Being only a child at the time, he stopped messing the shadows for fear that he might freeze to death if he continued. Then he'd heard the age-old tale of a pharaoh who sacrificed himself to save his kingdom and how he would be reincarnated to save the world again with the lighter half of his soul. Of course, this was an old legend and about nine times out of ten legends turned out to be overly exaggerated tales of some event that happened many years ago, and naturally he didn't believe it.

Until he looked into it more and read something on how the pharaoh and a few others could use shadow magic, which made him look into shadow magic and find out that its use did cause an unrealistic cold feeling. These findings made him wonder, was he the reincarnated pharaoh? Part of him wanted to ask his parents if they had any idea about this, but a much stronger and more reasonable part told him that if he even breathed a word of him having a past life his parents would throw him in an asylum faster than he could blink. Besides – while he was no coward or weakling in any way, shape, or form – saving the world wasn't really his kind of thing. This wasn't a comic and he wasn't batman. But as the familiar chills continued and sometimes intensified, he couldn't help but think about it more and more.

In his "research" he also found that the pharaoh's "lighter half" was also the one to solve an item called the Millennium Puzzle, which was an upside-down pyramid with the eye of Ra in the middle of it. Archaeologists have proved the rumored Millennium items to exist in this time period, which meant that part of his enquiry had to be true, but at the same time there was no puzzle on the planet so hard that only one person could put it together. There couldn't be. There were also old drawings in stone slabs of said pharaoh and while these drawings had no color, Yami could see the resemblance of himself and the king. These similarities were rather uncanny, and while he wanted to think they were just crazy coincidences, he found himself believing more and more of it every day.

He gazed through the glass door of the employee entrance of the department store, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the one coming to unlock the door for him was not his manager. While he did inform his boss that he would be late, he knew that he was walking on thin ice and it would only be a matter of time before his boss lectured him about his habits, which was some shit that he was _not_ trying to hear.

"You late?" Mariku asked, pushing the door open to let his friend and coworker into the building.

"A little bit," Was Yami's response as he stepped inside and then made his way into the back stockroom. His shift was supposed to start at three o'clock. It's currently a quarter until four, and he hasn't even clocked in yet.

Mariku locked the door back and then followed, soon catching up and walking in stride with his friend. "Boss man said you told him you were feeling sick again."

"I'm fine." Yami deadpanned right before an unforgiving chill caught him and he noticeably jerked. Great, the one thing he didn't want to happen in public and it happened at his fucking job. Thank God it was Mariku and not one of his other coworkers, or even his boss, that saw it.

"You sure about that?" The blonde asked as he pushed open the doors to the stockroom. "Looks like you had a miniature seizure for a second."

"I'm fine," The man stated for a second time as he made his way over to an unlocked computer and punched in. "I'm just cold."

"How? The air conditioning in here is broken and it's warm outside."

"I don't know." Yami shook his head before heading out to the dock, where Bakura could be seen walking out one of the doors and into the trailer of a truck. "I've just been getting these cold flashes for the past few weeks and it seems like every time they're going away they come back even stronger."

Yami figured that it would be okay for Mariku and Bakura to know what had been going on with him. After all they were his friends – no matter how much they argued and didn't get along – and none of them would think that he was crazy. Bakura was so troublesome and disturbing that Yami was surprised he even had a job – it seemed like in school the boy was in trouble every other day – and Mariku's elevator clearly didn't go all the way up to the top floor. He expected for Bakura to just ignore what he said and for Mariku to just laugh at his misfortune, but he was thrown for a loop when Bakura backed off of the truck to better hear their conversation and Mariku said, "That's been happening to me too."

If the man could've fainted he would have, but he settled for giving Mariku an odd expression, almost as though he didn't believe him but he was relieved that he wasn't the only one going through this. "What?"

The taller boy nodded. "Yeah. It started a couple of weeks ago. I would get this random, bone chilling sensation that wouldn't go away no matter what I tried."

By this time, Bakura had made his way over to them, and had an expression on his face that was the exact opposite of what Yami had expected. Instead of appearing to be condescending and judgmental, his friend's look was intrigued. "You guys have been getting the shakes too?"

The two nodded. Even Bakura was experiencing this? This was most definitely strange. Yami debated whether or not he should tell them the story about the pharaoh, his light, and the Millennium Items. There was a possibility that if the three of them were experiencing the same thing, which was the presence of shadows, then they could possibly be aware of the legend. However, before he could open his mouth to ask the question, Mariku beat him to it.

"You guys think it has something to do with the Millennium items?"

"You know about…?" Yami couldn't even finish the question. Here he was terrified to let on even just a little bit that he had his beliefs about the legend and Mariku had known about the shit for God knows how long.

"Yeah. We both do." Mariku gestured to himself and Bakura. "I looked into it the second these cold flashes started happening. We think it means that the lights are close to the Rod and the Ring. Maybe yours means that your light is putting together the puzzle."

Yami couldn't believe his ears. Either the tale about ancient Egypt was true, or the three of them were just crazy, and he was hoping that it was the latter. Because if the tale was true, it meant that they were going to have to save the world from something or someone, and that was too tall an order for him.

 _ **A/N: I've never done any type of Magic A/U before, so I'm excited to see how this story will turn out. I've also read plenty of magic A/Us, which always seem to turn out very similar, and that's exactly why I'm sort of theming it like God of War. No, I'm not taking the characters and thrusting them into the God of War plot, but because what I'm actually gonna do is so hard to explain, you guys are just gonna have to wait until we get into the duel monsters and the shadow magic. In the meantime, please review. Feedback, both positive and negative (but no flames) is appreciated.**_

 _ ***To Télos Archízei is translated to "The End Begins"**_


	2. 2

_**A/N: I've truly never been more excited to write a fic than I have for this one. I've written fics based off of my favorite shows and sometimes my favorite sports, but never one based off of one of my favorite games. The only issue I see with this is not making the early, magic-less chapters seem forced or rushed; because I'm eager to get into the parts with shadow magic and monsters and summoning – you know, where I'll start to blend YuGiOh and God of War. Although, I will admit for this chapter to be devoid of magic, I had a lot of fun writing it. Also, since this is the new year, I decided for my New Year's Resolution to be weekly uploads whenever I start a new story. Uploads will be on Saturdays – unless something extreme happens and I can't write.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh or the God of War Franchise. This much should be obvious.**_

 _2_

He was almost done. After nearly two months of sliding pieces into place, using up all of his spare time, – and dipping into a little of his school time – and being nearly antisocial, his puzzle was almost finished. What had started off as a mess of a couple hundred pieces was now a three-dimensional figure with a little less than fifteen pieces missing. Yuugi's guess about it being some sort of tetrahedron was spot-on, though it wasn't a cube like he'd expected. By now, it seemed like the finished product would be an upside-down pyramid with an eye symbol in the middle. He smiled to himself as he picked up another piece and slid it into place, relishing in the heat wave that washed over his body.

The closer he got to completing his self-assigned project, the more often and more intense the heat flashes would be. When they first occurred he found them to be very surprising and occasionally painful as some of them felt like he was struck with the heated end of a branding iron and others felt like someone had cocooned him inside of a large, fluffy blanket; but now that he was almost done, he was used to the flashes. Hell, he'd even admit that he liked them. That extra presence in his mind grew stronger too, although he still wasn't sure of exactly what it was or why it was there. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep that he was getting, considering the fact that he would stay awake with his golden apparatus until he fell asleep with pieces still in his hands.

Of course, Yuugi's behavior didn't go unnoticed by his friends or his grandfather. Joey, Malik, and Ryou worried that Yuugi was becoming too obsessed with trying to finish the puzzle, and while they wanted to see what the finished product looked like as badly as he did, they did not feel like it was worth their friend's sanity. Often they had to force him to take a break, which would piss the fuck out of him but he would always reluctantly agree. He'd always hated when people fussed over him, and he hated it even more when it was his friends simply because they _knew_ he hated it. Solomon had also begun to worry about his grandson. Yuugi was so absorbed in trying to finish the puzzle that he'd given him that often times the boy didn't eat or he ate very little in order to get back to it, and that wasn't what he wanted to happen. When he'd given Yuugi the puzzle, his intention was that Yuugi would take it as a challenge and take stabs at it periodically. Not neglect his friends and his health in his haste to finish it.

Yuugi had somewhat figured that his grandfather felt guilty about given him such a puzzle to complete, judging by the looks in his eyes whenever the old man managed to drag him out of his room and downstairs to dinner. He'd hoped that Solomon could be patient enough to allow him to fit the last remaining pieces and then he would make up all the time he spent working on it, but the knock on the door to his room suggested otherwise.

At first he'd thought that it was his grandfather attempting to get him to take a break and eat something, but then he realized that one: there was no smell of food being prepared, and two: his grandfather usually knocked on his door and called for him, but whoever this was didn't do that. After scratching the thought that it could be his grandfather, he figured that maybe it was his one of his friends, but his friends never knocked on his door – save for Ryou, and he usually knocked on the door and then opened it. With this possibility out of the window as well, it left only one other option and all the color drained from his face when he realized exactly who it was behind his door. For a moment, he supposed that if he stayed quiet enough she would figure that he wasn't home and leave, but then he figured that Solomon most likely told her that he'd be in his room – and maybe even invited her over. With a sigh, he put away his puzzle and the remaining pieces and then placed it in one of his drawers before standing and very slowly making his way to the door. Truth be told, he should've expected her to jump into his arms as soon as he opened the door as she did it every time she saw him, but he was too busy dreading the fact that she was at the Game Shop that he didn't brace himself for the impact and they both fell to the ground. If it were anyone else this situation would have been funny, but because it was Rebecca there was no humor about it at all.

She was a sweet girl and, when she kept her distance, Yuugi didn't mind her at all; it was when she would do things that kids her age should have absolutely no idea about let alone execute that bothered him. He didn't mind that she had a crush on him. He _did_ mind that she thought someday they would be married and she would bring over pictures of them (some photo shopped and some real) together with notes and hearts drawn all over them. He didn't mind that she liked to glomp him to the ground – hell, his friends did that – but he _did_ mind that after bringing him to the ground she would straddle his lap and attempt to kiss him. That was just a little bit too promiscuous for a girl that was barely a preteen. Speaking of which, he just barely got his head turned to the side in time to avoid the kiss she was trying to give him.

"Um, Rebecca, could we get up please?"

The girl made no move to get off of him, but instead she rested her weight against the lower portion of Yuugi's lap (very close to a part of his anatomy that he didn't want anywhere near her) and she folded her arms over her chest. "What for? This is comfortable."

Sheer patience prevented him from uttering "the hell it is" and instead he gave a more, polite response. "I beg to differ." _She_ might've been comfortable all but sitting cowgirl on him, but he wasn't. Honestly, he felt like a pedophile with her in this very precarious position with him being almost a legal adult and her not being anywhere close to old enough to even fucking drive. "We're on the floor. Wouldn't you much rather move somewhere more appropriate?"

Rebecca's eyes lit up with joy as she hopped off of the petite boy below her. "We can sit on your bed." And then she took a seat at the foot of Yuugi's bed.

Yuugi stopped himself from cringing before the girl could notice it, and he sat up. In no way, shape, or form did he want to consider sitting on his bed in his room with a twelve-year-old girl appropriate. If anything, he took his bed as an invitation for her find new ways of torturing him and terrifying him with just how dirty the mind of an early adolescent could be. He opened his mouth to protest, but there was no sense in arguing with the girl; sooner or later she would get her way (whether that be by telling Solomon that Yuugi was being mean to her and getting the old man to make Yuugi bend to her will or by guilting him into doing so); and so he just cut out the middle-man and took a seat at the foot of his bed, but on the side closest to his bedroom window which was about a good two feet away from her. His eyes fluttered shut once she closed the gap in between them just to keep her from seeing the irritated roll that they gave. "So," he began, resisting the urge to push her away when she linked their arms and pillowed her head onto his shoulder. "What brings you by?" That question could be loosely translated to "why the fuck are you here?"

"Your grandpa told me that you were really stressed and quiet lately, so he asked my dad to bring me by to cheer you up." She attempted to kiss him again, but he jerked his head away and played it off by looking out of the window and pretending that something outside had caught his attention.

At the mention of his grandfather, Yuugi rolled his eyes again. Solomon of all people had to know that Yuugi thought Rebecca to be nothing short of a nuisance, and he quickly saw the ulterior motive behind inciting the blonde menace over: he wanted to take Yuugi's attention off of the puzzle. It was very justifiable, seeing as though Yuugi nearly ate, slept, and breathed the puzzle; but this was low even for him. But Yuugi couldn't get mad at his grandfather; the old man's heart was in the right place as always.

He briefly glanced back at Rebecca, who was sitting so close to him that she was practically in his lap. He wouldn't put it past her to try and attempt that either. Yuugi vaguely heard her going off into her usual rant of how once she was of age they would date and then get engaged and then get married and blah, blah, blah. He sighed and focused his gaze back on the world outside of the window next to him. _I wonder if a fall from this height would be enough to kill me,_ he thought. Honestly, all he wanted to do was put the last pieces of his puzzle into place, but he wouldn't dare bring it out in front of her. For all he knew, Rebecca would try and snatch it out of his hands and finish it herself and he'd be damned if anyone was going to lay a finger on his precious puzzle.

Now, he was not a fan of violence at all, but there was something about this puzzle that made him irrationally protective over it. Something about it screamed that it belonged to him, and anyone that attempted to come in between it and him – finished or not – was going to run his fade…

He was only brought out of his uncharacteristically possessive thoughts by the harsh calling of his name, and he groaned internally. Apparently Rebecca had caught onto the fact that he wasn't listening to a word she was saying; but instead of yelling at him or making him feel guilty for his inattention, the girl just stood and left the room, leaving him sitting on his bed partially in shock that she'd left and in joy that she was finally gone and he could finish working on the puzzle. Though he knew that it was highly unlikely that she was actually gone from the Shop, she was out of his room and that was all that he really wanted. With great exuberance, Yuugi hopped off of his bed and practically danced back over to his desk, where he retrieved his puzzle and went back to what he was doing before that pest had interrupted him.

Slowly, piece by piece slid into place with an audible clicking sound and the heat flashes began again; each one coming in more intense than the last. It was rather painful and it should have bothered him, but oddly enough he couldn't stop himself from continuing with the puzzle. More clicks, more pieces going where they belong, and more heat flashes until the only piece left was the eye of Ra, which was to go in the center.

Yuugi took a deep breath and picked up the piece, noting how it seemed to stare at him before sliding it into place. He was definitely not prepared for the unbearable heat that radiated from the puzzle when he picked up the final product. It felt like he'd stuck his hands into a fire, and for some anomalous reason, he couldn't put the damned thing down. He grit his teeth and a whimper escaped him before a flash of blinding, white light came from the puzzle and forced him to close his eyes.

When the light subsided and he was finally able to open his eyes, the puzzle was no longer hot, but he felt a powerful presence not only in his mind but in his room. Yuugi slowly turned around, and nearly jumped out of his skin at the presence of an oddly familiar boy that looked very much like him. Or rather, the implied presence, considering that the boy resembled a hologram and Yuugi was sure that if he touched him his hand would pass right through.

 _XxXx_

Ryou's idea of utilizing his free time was very different than his friend's ideas. While they preferred to participate in leisure activities and goof off simply because they could, he liked to actually get shit done in his spare time. Things like playing games, browsing social media, or even taking a nap could wait until he finished whatever it was that he needed to do; and right now it was his laundry. Because he didn't need to clean any particular room in the house (and because he'd cleaned the house so damn much that if he scrubbed at anything he was certain the paint would come off), he figured that it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and start washing clothes. It was only Wednesday, but if he put off his laundry until the weekend when his clothes piled up he would curse himself for not taking the opportunity to knock them out now. Joey liked to tease him by calling him a neat freak because of this; but Ryou, of course, always ignored the insult. There was nothing wrong with liking to have things neat and organized; it made things much easier to find and made spaces much more appealing. It was also the reason why the foursome always opted to hang out at Ryou's house rather than their own.

The white haired boy shook his head with a laugh. His friends probably couldn't color tap their way out of a Staples, but he loved them anyway.

This particular usage of his free time was interrupted, however, when he was on his way back to his bedroom. The doorbell rang. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary; but to Ryou this occurrence was odd. None of his friends had asked to stop by – and if they were coming by they would have at least text him and let him know – and he'd gotten the mail when he came in from school. If his father was sending him something, he would've gotten a phone call (or rather a text message, he didn't know why he was flattering himself). But he got none of those things. He took his headset off of his ears and rested the item on his neck before cautiously making his way over to the front door, and opening it even more carefully.

There was no one there, and after a quick sweep of the area – from the doorstep, of course – he found that it wasn't a person but a package on his doorstep. It was still just as odd. Picking up the package, he found that the return address was from Egypt but there was no name to tell him just who sent it. Truth be told, he was a little afraid to bring the box back into the house, but there was something in the back of his mind telling him that he needed to see just what had been sent to him. So he did.

Grabbing a box cutter and taking the package into his bedroom, Ryou sliced through the tape holding the box shut, pulled the lid open, took out all of the wrapping and packing peanuts, and then…

He gaped and nearly dropped the box before his legs gave out and he fell into a seated position on his bed – partially because he was shocked and partially because what was in this box had an overwhelming effect on his body. It was hot all of a sudden and the head-rush he'd gotten was enough to knock him off balance, hence his legs choosing not to do their job and hold him up. That wasn't what shocked him the most, though.

What really took his breath away (and slightly scared him) was the fact that he recognized the item. He'd seen pictures of it in his father's books and occasionally on the internet. A solid gold item in the shape of a circle with five cones hanging from the bottom, a pyramid in the middle, and an eye in the center that seemed to gaze back at him. It was the Millennium Ring. Ryou took ahold of the brown cord attached to the top of the item and pulled it upwards. Judging by the weight of the piece, it was safe to say that this was the real Ring; but why was it sent to him? What use did he have for it?

Ryou had done just the slightest bit of digging into the history of the Millennium items – after hearing his father talk about them – and stumbled across the age old legend that the holders of said items were to be reincarnated in the future for the purpose of saving the world from a great danger that will befall it. There was also something about a few of the owners having a dark half and a light half to their souls, but at the time Ryou was more concerned with what danger was supposed to happen. Remembering his "research" they white haired boy was tempted to put the ring back in the box, seal it back up, write "RETURN TO SENDER" on it, and put it in the mailbox. Maybe if he pretended that he'd never seen the Ring before in his life and acted like he had nothing to do with it, nothing bad would happen.

But that feeling that told him to open the box returned even stronger, and this time it told him to put the item around his neck. He tried his absolute hardest to ignore it, and even attempted to put the Ring back; but every time he tried to move his arm away from his body, the limb shook like a leaf in the wind. It was like his brain and the nerves in his right arm had been disconnected, and the more he tried to go against that strange feeling, the more his arm trembled. Eventually, with his heart pounding from frustration and fear, Ryou gave in and put the item around his neck.

What he didn't expect to happen once the solid gold came into contact with his chest, however, was for it to burn like someone had taken a branding iron to his torso. Ryou clutched his chest, attempting to pull the ring away, but it was as though the item had sealed itself to his body. Even falling off of the bed and onto his knees as he cried out in agony didn't cause the Ring to move. Through his pain, he noticed a white light illuminating from the Ring and filling the room. So bright and overpowering that he had to close his eyes and turn his head away to avoid any potential damage to his eyesight.

His cries of pain died down to heavy breaths and sporadic whimpers as the light subsided and he was able to open his eyes. The burning feeling went away, but was replaced with a nearly overwhelming presence in his mind and the feeling that there was someone in his room. Slowly standing up and turning around, Ryou saw what could be described as a holographic form of someone he attended school with. And that someone appeared to be very unamused. The feeling was mutual. In fact, upon recognizing each other the two boys gave their own individual huffs before turning away and both muttering, "Damn."

 _XxXx_

Malik hated school.

Of course, no teenager particularly enjoyed waking up early in the morning to spend eight hours at a place that forced them to wear certain things, spend time with people they didn't like, eat things that were poorly prepared, and learn things they probably weren't going to use later on in their lives. But none of those reasons was why Malik didn't like school.

He didn't have anything against education. What he didn't like, though, was that if you didn't understand something you were automatically considered stupid by your peers – and even some teachers. It wasn't his fault that he spent a most of his early life underground and only learned trade skills up until he was twelve. Being a Tomb Keeper didn't call for him to know what the Unit Circle, Iambic Pentameter, or Norepinephrine was. Did his classmates or instructors understand that?

Fuck no.

Of course, he wasn't completely innocent in this situation either. His instructors would probably be more compelled to take his side if he actually tried to do his homework and classwork instead of just saying "it was too hard" or "I didn't get it" and then proceeding to sleep, text, or do something else where he wasn't paying attention. But either way, he still hated school.

And today was no exception. In fact, today wasn't a good day at all. He'd woken up late, missed the bus, forgotten his skateboard (so he had to walk to school), gotten detention for sleeping in class, and then had to walk _back_ home. The only thing that was good was that his sister was at work and wouldn't be home to question him on why he was late coming home from school, because if she asked, the he would have to say that he got detention – which would lead to him explaining why he chose not to do his classwork – and would certainly lead to a lecture from Isis. Now, he loved his sister more than anything in this world, but when she addressed his negligence, laziness, or disobedience, his ears had the tendency to shut off.

Because he did not want to hear that shit.

Even though his sister was at work and wouldn't be home until much later that night, Malik could feel some sort of presence in the apartment when he walked in. He should've walked right out of the door as soon as he felt something off, but there was something – some kind of voice – in his head that said to investigate; and he did, against his will. He headed to his bedroom, aiming to start looking there for whatever was giving him this fishy feeling, but this voice told him to make a pit stop in his sister's bedroom. Malik should've ignored it, he never went in his sister's room unless he absolutely had to – and even then he was still hesitant. Most of the time, there was nothing in there that he needed and Isis was never too fond of him going through her things; but this nuisance of a voice told him that it was something in there specifically for him and that it wouldn't hurt if he looked around and put back whatever he moved. Which was true.

Malik slowly pushed open the door to his sister's room and quietly slipped inside before closing the door behind him and taking a second to look around. Immediately, his eyes fell upon a slender box next to the head of her bed. The voice was back, this time telling him to see just what was inside the box. It wouldn't hurt, right? Just get a box cutter knife, split the packing tape, take a peek at the contents, and then tape it back up like it had never been opened and he was never in the room.

Simple enough.

The blonde went and retrieved a knife before heading back into his sister's room and slicing open the box, and then he froze.

Now, Malik was just a young child during his time underground in Egypt, but he was aware of what this was sitting here in this box was a Millennium Item – although he couldn't quite remember which one it was. This was what appeared to be a solid gold rod that tapered down to a sharp point at the bottom and had a sphere with an eye in the middle and two sharp wings protruding out of the sides. But what it was wasn't important. _Why_ it was there was. It wasn't much that he remembered from living underground; but he did recall the old lore of the Millennium Items and how they would resurface just before the world would be plunged into great danger, and how the items were only intended to be utilized by certain individuals who possessed. Malik didn't remember for what reason. It didn't really matter right now. What did matter was that he was staring right at a Millennium Item, which meant that this legend was true.

Malik had hoped the fulfilment of this ancient legend would come long after his days on this earth. He also hoped that if it _did_ happen to come while he was still living, that the Millennium Items concerning it had absolutely nothing to do with himself, his family, or any of his friends. Apparently fate had decided otherwise.

Now he really wished that he hadn't listened to that little voice that told him to go into his sister's room and told him even louder to open that stupid box. He wanted to run out of the room and act like he never saw the box. Just tape it back up and make it look like he'd never been there. After all, the Millennium Item belonged to his sister. It was in her room, it only made sense that it was hers. But, despite the good reason he had to get the hell out of there, Malik couldn't do it. His legs wouldn't move. Instead, he did the opposite of what he wanted to do in bending down to get a closer look at the fancy golden stick sitting harmlessly in the box; and then he reached forward to grasp the item, listening to that voice in his head instead of his own reasoning.

The heat that radiated from the object and shot through his body made him feel like he'd jumped into a volcano. It burned. It fucking _hurt._ It was so painful that he fell to his knees and sunk his teeth into his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, all to avoid shouting out and possibly alarming the other tenants in the building. The last thing he needed was someone coming in and seeing him in pain from just holding a golden rod. Or even someone alarming his sister and her returning to the apartment and seeing that he went snooping in her room.

An overbearing white light drew him out of his panicked thoughts and caused him to use his free arm to shield his eyes, and then once it was gone, the burning pain was gone as well. What replaced it was a type of presence in his mind and in the room with him. Which, there was someone in the room with him, or rather, it looked like someone – someone he knew. Malik moved his arm away from his face and looked in the direction that the light had come from, staring at the transparent form of an older boy that looked very much like him. The boy gave Malik a smile, but instead of it being comforting or somewhat calming, it just made Malik very uncomfortable. He had a really _bad_ feeling about this.

 _ **A/N: Quick question in the closing author's note; who could you picture having facial hair: Yami, Bakura, Mariku, or Seto? How you answer will affect later chapters in this story. Thanks for reading, and reviews (but no flames) are always welcome.**_


	3. 3

_**A/N: I can feel the excitement building for this chapter and the rest of this story. Our yamis and hikaris finally meet. Also, after missing last weeks and the week before uploads, I was faced with the option to either double upload two separate chapters or combine the two and make a really long chapter. After much debating, I decided to go with the latter. Turns out that school is kicking my ass a lot harder than I thought it would, and even though I only have two classes, I'm spending at least 6 or seven hours doing homework, reading, or writing papers. That being said, if I have a light workload, I might be able to upload a chapter in a week, if not then I'll upload as soon as possible.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh or the God of War Franchise. This much should be obvious.**_

 _3_

This was awkward. No, scratch that, this was straight up fucking crazy and it was no way around it.

Here Yuugi was, cutting school during lunch to have a conversation with the same person that appeared in his bedroom the other day after he'd finished his puzzle. After the blinding light had subsided and he was made aware of the presence in his room, things…got very strange and very complicated very quickly. Yuugi had a million questions, and the boy that had appeared in his bedroom didn't seem like he wanted to answer a single one of them. All he got was, "It's a lot to understand. We'll talk about it in person tomorrow." Then there was another flash of light and the boy disappeared, leaving Yuugi frustrated and confused. Now, Yuugi was a very pleasant and polite person; but when he wanted answers, dammit, he wanted answers.

"Look," He said, folding his arms over his chest. "If we walk any further, we'll officially be off campus and we'll get in trouble."

To which the older boy called back over his shoulder, "Don't worry about that. Seto will get us out of it."

"Seto?" Yuugi repeated, dumbfounded. Seto Kaiba – CEO of Kaiba Corp and richer than Yuugi could ever dream to be – had attended Domino High School and graduated the previous year. The man acted so coldly towards nearly everyone that Yuugi didn't believe he had friends, let alone was close enough to someone in order to do them favors.

The boy nodded and turned around, opting to walk backwards and converse with Yuugi face to face. "Yeah. He's my cousin. He helps me out occasionally."

"Your cousin? Wha –" Yuugi began, but shook his head. He wasn't following this guy so that he could find out about Kaiba's family life. "Listen, when you magically appeared in my room yesterday and I asked you how the hell you got there, you told me that we would talk in person about it today. I'd like for us to stop walking and start talking."

"Alright." The boy stopped walking and slipped his hands into the pockets of his uniform pants. "Well, I guess I should start with the least complicated. My name is Yami Sennen, in case you didn't know, and I'm your darker half."

The shorter male rose a brow. "Excuse me?"

"I'm the darker half to your soul." Yami clarified, and then gave a disappointed laugh. "This is not going to be easy to explain. We are two halves of one soul; I am the yami and you're the hikari. I am the darker half; you are the lighter half. We…complement each other."

Yuugi didn't say anything, but he also didn't make any move to walk away in an attempt to halt the conversation, so Yami took that as an invitation to continue.

"This is going to sound crazy – and sometimes I have trouble believing it myself – but we are part of a reincarnated pharaoh. I…don't completely understand the full story, and when I try to look more into it I give myself a headache, but a long time ago the world was in danger and to save it he had to sacrifice himself and a few other people. However, in the very distant future, the ones sacrificed would be reborn to save the world from a new danger."

There was more silence on Yuugi's end, which could either be taken as him mulling over what he was just told or trying to figure out whether or not he was being punk'd. Then, "Okay…so there's that. It kind of explains the lighter half/darker half stuff you were saying. But, that doesn't explain the puzzle burning and the light in my room and how a ghost version of you ended up in my bedroom."

"I know. It's because that part is even crazier than the last part." Yami sighed. "You completed the Millennium Puzzle, right?" And then he reached towards the golden pyramid that hung from the smaller boy's neck, slightly surprised when Yuugi backed out of his reach.

"If you're talking about _my_ puzzle, then yes, I did. What about it?"

"When you finished the Puzzle, you summoned me, and our bond was formed. The Puzzle used to belong to the Pharaoh, and was a part of the sacrifice to save mankind three millennia ago. When a hikari is reunited with their millennium item, upon contact they summon their darker half to their side. When our bond gets stronger, you'll be able to summon me to your side whenever you need me. As a yami, it's my job to protect you and as a hikari it's your job to protect me. If something happens to either one of us, then we can more than likely kiss this world goodbye."

"I'm…not sure that I'm following…" Which, Yuugi wasn't. This was crazy. It was absolutely fucking insane. Did Yami really expect for Yuugi to believe the crock of shit coming out of his mouth? It made no sense. Yami and Yuugi were two halves of a reincarnated soul, they had some sort of bond that allowed them to summon each other, they were supposed to save the world from some kind of grave danger…but at the same time, it did explain the weird shit that happened the day before.

Why the hell else would putting a puzzle together elicit the appearance of someone he barely knew in his own home? Yuugi was certain that Yami had absolutely no idea how to get to the game shop – without the use of GPS – and even if he did find the shop, Yami wouldn't know where to find Yuugi's bedroom.

Yami offered a small smile. "I know you're not. It took me a while to understand and even longer to believe it. Hell, there are some instances where I still question it; but the appearance of you and the completed puzzle…it kind of makes me less iffy about it. Truth be told, I never expected you to believe it – hell, I never even expected you to stay and listen to the entire explanation. That alone, tells me a lot."

"What exactly does it tell you?" Yuugi inquired, cursing himself for blushing at how beautiful the boy's smile was.

"Tells me that if given enough time, you'll believe it and we can actually put a stop to whatever is coming. Well, us and the other yamis and hikaris."

"You mean; we aren't the only ones?"

Yami shook his head. "No, actually. I know the other yamis. They actually attend this school with us; I wouldn't be surprised if the other lights went here to. Now, come with me. There's somewhere we have to be."

While the invitation to skip the rest of school was tempting, Yuugi didn't want to ruin his perfect record, and so he respectfully declined. "Sorry, I can't cut with you right now, I don't wanna get in trouble. Can't this wait until after school?"

Yami shook his head. "It can't. And I already told you, whatever trouble we get into, Seto will get us out of it. It'll be like we never ditched. Now let's go." The older boy motioned for Yuugi to follow him, and then turned back around and continued walking.

Yuugi hesitated. Yami was still technically a stranger. He had no idea where they were supposed to be going. The boy believed that they were part of a reincarnated pharaoh. There were literally more than enough reasons for Yuugi to walk right back into the school, but that same presence that was with him while he put the puzzle together was telling him that it was best to follow Yami.

So he did.

 _XxXx_

It felt nice to not go to school today. Of course, it would have felt even better had Ryou not had a cold, but it was still nice to have a day off. No worrying about Malik and Joey getting into fights behind protecting himself and Yuugi, no worrying about any tests or assignments, no anything. The only downside to this sick day was that Ryou was pretty much bedridden. He only left his bedroom to use the restroom and to get something to eat, which wasn't his thing at all. Ryou didn't like to laze around in bed all day because then the day would be wasted, he'd feel like he hadn't done anything, and it made him feel lazy. If it weren't for the fatigue he felt whenever he walked around, Ryou probably would have went to school.

Or at least tried to do some chores.

Another thing about this cold was how congested he got, and every decongestant that he'd taken didn't do anything to help; he either couldn't breathe out of one nostril, could barely breathe through both, or he had to breathe through his mouth because his nose was completely stuffed up. This made sleeping very difficult. Ryou had to lay a certain way in order to breath correctly, and it seemed like every time he got comfortable, his nasal passages would be backed up. He'd finally gotten into a position where he could breathe just enough to fall asleep without worrying about suffocating in his slumber when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

Or rather, he thought he felt someone tap his shoulder, but that was impossible considering that he was the only one home and the house was locked up tight (something he made sure of, every night before he went to bed he would check and then double-check to make sure all the doors and windows were locked). So he blamed it on his imagination and lack of sleep. But when it happened again, and was accompanied with, "Get up," then he figured he should probably see what was going on. That voice sounded way too real for it to be his imagination.

Ryou slowly sat up and turned in the direction that the voice came from, and he could've sworn that his heart skipped a beat. Standing at his bedside was a very real version of the boy he'd seen yesterday when he put the Ring on. The boy's expressionless face, cold eyes, pale skin, and white hair made him appear to be a ghost – at least to someone that was half sleep.

"Who the hell are you?" Ryou asked, scooting onto the far side of his bed in an effort to get away from the boy that had to have broken in.

The boy scowled. "What the hell do you mean, 'who am I'? You know who I am, we ride the same bus and go to the same school."

This should've calmed Ryou down, but it didn't. If anything, it made him panic even more. Why would a guy who clearly didn't like him just show up at his house? "Bakura? How did you get in here?"

Bakura merely pointed over his shoulder at Ryou's bedroom window.

"But the window was locked."

The older boy smirked, "Over the course of my life, I've developed many skills. One of which includes taking apart a window and putting it back together again." And then he took a step back and opened the curtains, revealing a window that looked like it had been untouched. "Anyway," Bakura's smirk faltered, going back to his original scowl. "I looked for you for hours at school. What are you doing here?"

Ryou blinked, not believing that Bakura of all people had been looking for him. "I'm sick…and how do you know where I live?"

"We ride the same bus, and it stops in front of your house." Bakura folded his arms. "Come on. Get up, get dressed. We gotta go."

Somewhat over his initial scare and shock, Ryou shook his head. " _We_ don't have to go anywhere. The only place I would have to go would be into the kitchen to prepare myself some food or to the bathroom so I can relieve myself. Considering that I'm not hungry and I don't have to urinate, I have absolutely no reason to get out of my bed. Go home, or back to school or wherever you feel like going; and leave the same way you came in, I don't feel like getting up to lock the door behind you." And they Ryou lay back down, searching for a position that would allow for him to breathe; and eventually he settled for lying on his right side with the covers pulled over his head.

"Oh, you need a reason to get out of the bed? I got your reason to get out the bed," Bakura murmured to himself as he walked around the boy's bed and stopped on the side that Ryou was facing before he had submerged himself into the comforter and sheets. Bending down, Bakura took ahold of the covers and lifted them up enough so that Ryou could see only his face. Judging by the look on the boy's face, Bakura could tell that the action startled him, but he wasn't anywhere close to being done with rousing his lighter half up. He furrowed his brow, his eyes darkened, and he dropped his voice to a low and sinister whisper before saying through clenched teeth, "You better get your ass outta this bed."

Ryou was certain that he'd never seen or heard anything more terrifying in his life, and he quickly scrambled out from under the covers and onto his feet – while also giving a very unmanly scream.

"Listen, I said we had to go somewhere. This is important, it has to do with why I appeared in this…" Bakura looked around the room and scowled, "…poorly decorated room last night after you put on the Ring. Now, I'm going to locate your kitchen and find myself a snack since I used my lunch time to come over here, and when I come back you'd better be dressed. If I come back in here and you're piled back up in the bed, do you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna flip the mattress over with you in it. You'll be sandwiched between the pillow-top and the box-spring. And then I'm gonna jump on the bed." The older boy glared at Ryou, as if he were trying to stare into his soul. "Try me." Then he left the room, leaving Ryou with the choice of getting back into the bed and finding out whether Bakura was serious or not, or playing it safe and getting dressed.

The latter seemed to be the better option.

Shedding his pajamas, Ryou began to get dressed. It was at this point he wished that he would have just gotten talking to Bakura out of the way when the bastard appeared in here last night, but upon seeing each other, neither one of them was in the mood to talk. Apparently Bakura just appearing in his room had something to do with the lighter half/darker half stuff – the part Ryou didn't look very far into – in the legend. Perhaps he also had something to do with the weird feeling he'd gotten when he brought the package containing the Millennium Ring, and the awkward presence in his mind one he put the item on (a presence that seemed stronger now that Bakura was actually there). As he was putting his sneakers on, he saw Bakura come back into the room with a bag of chips. _His_ favorite chips. Of course.

Bakura pointed to the Ring on Ryou's dresser. "Put that on, and don't ever take it off. If I find out that you took it off, I'm gonna take the cord that the ring is hanging on and I'm gonna lynch you with it. Understood?"

Ryou nodded. Damn, was the Ring really that important to where Bakura had to threaten his life? With a sigh, the younger boy went over to his dresser and slipped the item onto his neck, relieved that it didn't burn this time. "Where are we going?"

"You'll find out when we get there, now let's go," Bakura responded, leaving Ryou's room and heading towards the front door. He figured that it would be too much trouble to take the window apart and put it back together.

Ryou followed, but once Bakura was out of the front door, he shut and locked it behind him. The older boy might have broken into his house and stolen his chips, but there was no way he was going to steal his day by dragging him to God Knows Where. Damn that. He was about to go right back to sleep and rest his body so that he could get over this cold. Or at least, that's what he thought he was going to do.

Ryou certainly didn't expect for Bakura to pick the lock of the front door and come back in. He also didn't expect for Bakura to grab him by the collar of his shirt and drag him out of the house.

 _XxXx_

Yesterday was not a good day for Malik, and he knew that even before he'd gotten home and opened that stupid box with the Rod – the name of the item came to him while he was trying to sleep last night. Actually seeing that the item existed and realizing the legend was real made his day even worse.

And now today had the potential to be an even worse day.

For starters, Ryou didn't show up, which meant that Malik had no one in any of his classes nice enough to do his classwork for him, leaving him the option to either give himself a headache trying to complete the work or get in trouble for not doing a thing at all. The headache seemed to be the better option, considering that if he got in trouble again the front office would call his house and the _last_ thing he needed was for his sister to fuss at him behind what he did (or didn't do) at school.

During lunch time, Malik found himself alone. Joey had gotten himself into some kind of trouble before lunch started and Yuugi disappeared with some guy that looked just like him before they even got a chance to begin eating. Not particularly caring for the food offered by the school today, Malik chose to use his thirty-minute break from classes he didn't understand to skate. That decision turned out to be a bad one.

It wasn't because he got in trouble for technically skipping – he always found some time to skate at school whether it be during lunch or during gym class – but because while he was rolling through the parking lot, some inconsiderate asshole landed a trick right in front of him and in trying to veer away so that he didn't hit the son of a bitch, Malik ended up falling off of his board and hurting his ankle. It wasn't a bad injury, he'd just rolled it, but it did hurt him enough to leave him sitting on the ground for longer than he wanted to. Fortunately for him the extended amount of time he spent on his ass allowed for him to see who it was that ran him off of his board.

It would be just his luck that the culprit was the same person that appeared in his sister's room the night before. Great.

"Watch where you're going, you dick," Malik snapped as he continued to massage his left ankle, hoping the soothing gesture would take away some of the stinging pain of the injury.

The boy offered an apologetic smile and hopped off of his own board in favor of walking over to the other male. "I didn't mean to knock you off your board, that's my fault. I hope I didn't hurt you. I just wanted your attention."

Malik scowled and gingerly rose to his feet, wincing at the pain that went up his leg from his ankle supporting his full weight. "You're damn right it's your fault; but I'll be fine. What do you want?"

"Come with me."

"Where? Hell no." The younger boy shook his head. "Nope. I'm not going anywhere with someone that appears in ghost form in my sister's bedroom to stare at me for ten minutes and then disappears. The least you could've done was introduce yourself, you creep." Malik began limping to the back entrance of the school, aiming to go back inside and rest his sore ankle, but before he could get far enough away he felt the boy grab his arm.

"My name is Mariku."

"Well Mariku," Malik began as he slowly pried the older boy's fingers from his right forearm, "Good luck at the creepy arm grab awards this year. I think you've got a real shot at winning."

Mariku sighed and let go of Malik, only to walk around him and block his path. "Look, I appeared in your sister's room last night because _you_ summoned me. When a light is in contact with their millennium item for the first time, their yami is summoned to their side. Well, part of their yami anyway. I probably should have told you that then, but I was a little caught off guard by how pretty you were." Mariku allowed for himself to smirk and took this opportunity to study his lighter half's body like he did the previous night. He was much cuter in person.

That stare made Malik uncomfortable; it was the same stare that he had given him when he appeared from the Rod the other night. It made his skin crawl. "Um…thanks?"

"Don't mention it. Now come on." Mariku picked up his skateboard. "That fall didn't hurt you did it? Can you still skate?"

Malik shrugged. He'd skated after rolling his ankle before, but it was usually back home or to one of his friend's homes and they weren't all that far away; considering he didn't know where Mariku was going to take him, it wouldn't be a good idea to try and bring himself more pain by skating. "It dinged my ankle up. I can walk fine, and maybe run for a little bit if need be, but skating is out of the question."

The older boy nodded. "Alright. It might take us longer to get there then, but grab your board and follow me."

"Call me vigilant, but I'm not a big fan of following people who flirt with me to unknown locations. Mind telling me where we're going?"

Mariku sighed and took up the younger male's skateboard, holding it in his other arm. "I'll tell you on the way. It's a long story, and we have a long walk ahead of us, so let's go." And then he began walking.

 _XxxX_

"You got an ankle brace, or something like that?" Mariku asked once he entered the main foyer of Seto's mansion, Malik looking around in awe behind him and the two of them drawing the attention of everyone else in the room.

"What happened?"

"I may or may not have made him roll his ankle when I approached him earlier." Mariku shrugged. "It was an accident, I landed in front of him and he fell off of his board. He was pretty mad at me…"

"I still am." Malik interrupted, and then he noticed that his friend was in the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't know," Yuugi answered, standing and walking over to his friend. It was nice to have a familiar face around an unknown place. While Seto's mansion was very lavish and beautiful, it didn't change the fact that he and Yami were complete strangers and being alone with them – and very little conversation occurring; something about waiting on everyone else to get there – for the last ten minutes had made him the slightest bit uncomfortable. "Guess I can ask you the same question."

Malik rolled his eyes and jerked a thumb back at Mariku. "He said that I needed to come with him somewhere. I didn't think he meant to Kaiba's mansion." The blonde looked around the large room – it was bigger than his entire apartment! "Anyway, I've no idea how he knows Kaiba or why he brought me here. On the way he said it had something to do with the millennium items and the legend."

Yuugi rose a brow. "You're involved in this stupid legend too?"

"It's not stupid," Yami interrupted, getting off of the couch and walking over to the two. "And we should really wait until everyone is here to discuss the legend. It's a very long and complicated story and I'd rather us not get too engrossed in it and then have to start over whenever Bakura and his light shows up."

"So what are we supposed to do until then? Just sit here and twiddle our thumbs?" Malik asked before slowly walking over to couch and taking a seat, relieved to get that extra weight off of his bad ankle. "Not to be a smartass, but apparently conversation is out of the question until two more people show up."

Yami tapped Mariku on the arm and sent him to get an ice bag for Malik's injury. "Not all conversation is out of the question. Just any conversation on why you're here, the Millennium Items, or the legend. There are plenty of other things that we can talk about."

"Like?" Yuugi inquired, taking a seat next to his friend and coaxing him into putting his injured ankle on the table.

"How long should it take his ankle to get better?" Yami gestured to Malik as Mariku returned with a small bag full of ice and gently set it on his lighter half's ankle.

"I don't know." Malik shrugged. "Usually when I roll my ankle it's a couple of weeks before I can skate again, and it not hurt. Why?"

"It's best if all of us were healthy. The reason why, I'll elaborate on once the other two get here."

As if on cue, the topics of their conversation arrived. Bakura walked into the room first, clearly irritated about something.

"Hurry up!" He snapped, looking over his shoulder.

Malik and Yuugi's eyes widened when they saw Ryou enter the room behind him, just about as upset as Bakura was. Their friend also appeared to be ill, which they figured earlier in the day when they hadn't seen him at school at all.

"I'm coming," Ryou muttered, following a great distance behing who could only be assumed as his other half. "That was a long walk, and I'm sick."

Bakura scowled. "Whatever. You have a cold, not cancer. Suck it up."

The younger boy opened his mouth to utter a witty response, but he was cut off by Yuugi's darker half clasping his hands together.

"So, now that everyone is here, we can talk about what's going on." Yami motioned for Ryou to take a seat next to his friends. "I suppose a safe place to start would be the beginning. Roughly three thousand years ago in ancient Egypt, there was a young pharaoh who possessed the Millennium Puzzle," He pointed to the item hanging from Yuugi's neck. "The pharaoh – along with a few others – used their items to manipulate shadow magic and summon duel monsters. Unfortunately, that power grew to be more than the owners of the Millennium Items could handle, and the world was on the brink of destruction at the hands of monsters and dark magic. To prevent that from happening, the owners of the Millennium Puzzle, Ring, and Rod sacrificed themselves in a ritual that would rid the world of what was endangering it. Now, you're probably wondering what this has to do with you, right?"

Three distinct nods were his answer.

"Well, along with the sacrifice is the legend – well, some call it a legend, others call it a prophecy – that the owners of the millennium items I had mentioned were to be reborn in order to save the world from a danger that was to befall on it. Exactly what danger, I don't know. The holders of the Puzzle, Ring, and Rod had their souls split into a lighter half and a darker half during the sacrifice, hence why a portion of myself, Bakura, and Mariku were summoned when the three of you came into contact with your items. Because a yami and hikari are two halves of one entity, they will complete each other. It's a Yin Yang type of thing: where one half is lacking, the other half completes them. For example," Yami gestured to the darker half of the Millennium Ring. "Bakura is the biggest asshole that I know. Now, I may not know…"

"Ryou." The younger white haired boy interrupted, figuring that Yami had paused because he didn't know his name.

"Ryou very well, but I'm sure it's safe to assume that he's a very nice person." Tired of standing, Yami walked over to the couch and sat down on the arm. "Along with complementing each other, a yami and hikari have a special type of bond. At full strength, our bonds with you guys will let us read each other's thoughts, sense where our other half is, feel each other's pain – literally – and summon us to your side. Right now though, the bonds kind of feel like minor headaches."

"How do our bonds get stronger?" Malik asked.

"Trust. The more we trust each other the stronger our bonds get. Which means that all of us have to spend more time with each other…"

Yami's explanation was interrupted by Bakura's sneer. "Let me stop you right there. You've got me _completely_ fucked up if you think I'm gonna willingly spend time with him." He jabbed a finger in Ryou's direction.

"I hate to say it, but I agree," Ryou added. "I refuse to spend time with the same person that broke into my house, ate my food, and threatened to kill me."

After the last statement, all eyes in the room landed on Bakura, who was clearly unbothered by the extra attention.

"You did all of that?"

Bakura shrugged. "He wasn't at school, so I decided to go to his house."

"Okay, but couldn't you have rung the doorbell? You really had to break and enter?"

"Technically I didn't break anything. I took apart his window and put it back together."

Yami pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that Bakura was…a little on the wild side but this was ridiculous. He knew the background of the Millennium Items; he knew how the bonds worked. Why in the hell would he…? "I know you were a thief in your past life, but come on man. And did you really threaten to kill him?"

Another nonchalant shrug. "It was just a mere exchange to make sure that he didn't forget to wear the Ring. As you can see, he has it on; and I doubt he'll forget it any time soon."

"What did you say to him?"

"I don't think that's really important…"

"He said he'd hang me with the cord if he saw me without the Ring on," Ryou interrupted, holding the string of his Millennium Item to emphasize his point.

"Bakura, you can't…" Yami began, but sighed. Bakura was damn near a grown man and he had free will. There was nothing that he could say or do to prevent him from doing whatever he pleased. "Look, despite the disdain you have for each other, I'm afraid that neither of you have a choice in this matter. We _all_ have to get to know each other and trust each other."

What followed that statement was the two disagreeing individuals voicing their input.

"That ain't happening…"

"I am not doing that."

To which Yami shook his head. "You don't have a choice. Besides, you barely know each other; it's no reason for there to be any unnecessary hatred between you two. Whatever little bit of beef you two have, squash it before it blows up into something dramatic."

Bakura sucked his teeth and dug into his pocket, fetching a small box and a lighter. "Man, whatever. I'm stepping outside."

Jumping to his feet like a puppy that hadn't seen its owner all day, Mariku strode over to Bakura and reached for the box. "I'm coming too, I haven't smoked all day and I fucking _need_ a cigarette."

"Get your own. One cigarette costs, like, forty cents." The white haired boy said as he made his way to the exit. "You always smoke up all of my cigarettes like you don't have a job and can't but your own."

Mariku followed. "Why spend money on my own when I can just bum yours? Besides, you act like I come to you every day for one."

"You do!"

Their bickering continued as they exited the room and once they were gone, Yuugi asked, "Does he have anything to do with this?"

The smaller man was referring to Seto, who was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room and hadn't said a word since everyone has arrived.

"Actually he does." Yami looked in his direction. "My cousin isn't a yami but he has the ability to manipulate the shadows like myself and the two fools outside. In his past life, he was a high priest to the Pharaoh. During the sacrifice, his soul wasn't split into two parts like ours was; but for some reason – that he won't disclose to me – he has shown the symptoms that Mariku, Bakura and I showed whenever the three of you were near your Millennium Items."

"Symptoms?" Ryou asked.

"Yeah. Because shadows represent darkness and darkness works hand in hand with temperature, we would experience the worst bone-chilling cold sensations in history. Mine were so bad some days that I wouldn't be able to go to work or school. But, the high priest never had a Millennium Item, so there is no way that Seto's cold fits were due to having a lighter half. I…" Yami scratched the back of his head. "I have no idea why it's happening…"

 _ **A/N: I feel like I should add in what would more than likely be the opening of next chapter, but if I mess around and try to write it now, it would be another three or four days before I updated; and since it's been about a month since my last update, I figure I should just go ahead and update now. I'll edit later. I'll try to have next chapter uploaded by next week or the week after if school permits me. Reviews are helpful, both positive or negative. See you guys next time. Peace.**_


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